Whose egg is it anyway?

So you want to have a baby?  In today’s era, there are so many ways to start a family.  The traditional way, adoption, foster care and even surrogacy!

Few states regulate surrogacies.  In Florida, the arrangement is legal and is regulated by surrogacy laws. Surrogacy is defined as a legal agreement, where a woman agrees to bear a child for someone else for that person to become the legal and emotional parent of the child.  A surrogacy arrangement can run anywhere from $25,000 to over a $100,000.  Celebrities such as Elton John, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicole Kidman and Gabrielle Union Wade have all enjoyed parenthood through the means of surrogacy.  As times goes by, surrogacy becomes more and more common. 

While most surrogacy arrangements usually work out without an issue, are you ready to fight for your family if yours does not work out as smoothly?

In one particular case, a while surrogate married to a black man agreed to carry the “baby” for a Chinese couple.  The parties were thrilled when the Chinese egg transferred onto the surrogate’s body.  However, as the pregnancy evolved, it was discovered that the surrogate was carrying twins.  This was a novelty since only one egg had transferred.  It was determined that perhaps the egg split and thus twins were developing. However, when the babies were born, one baby was Chinese and the other one was clearly of a mixed race.  Apparently, the surrogate became pregnant with her own child, while she was pregnant with the Chinese couple’s baby.  This is called superfetation and is extremely rare but it is not a medical impossibility as most people would think. After months of litigation, each mother kept their own baby but not before enduring heartache, lawsuits and novel legal issues.

In another case, a 47 year- old woman agreed to be a surrogate for a couple.  However, as the pregnancy progressed, it turned out that the surrogate was carrying triplets and the couple only wanted twins and thus they asked the surrogate to abort the third child.  The surrogate wanted to keep the third baby, as then the couple decided they wanted all three children.  Again, after agonizing litigation, an agreement was reached.

In what seems to be the most common dilemma, people change their mind.  A surrogate agrees with a gay couple to carry their baby.  A month after the baby is born, the surrogate changes her mind and wants to keep the baby.  A court ultimately decided that the legal parents of the baby were the gay couple and that the surrogate had no legal rights.

As farfetched or bizarre as these cases may seem, in today’s world, anything and everything can happen.  That being said, MAZE Resolutions, P.A. is here to facilitate whatever dispute you may be facing!